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RESEARCH PAPER PRACTICE TEST
Read the following article from the Purdue Owl, Purdue University’s online writing resource, and answer the questions that follow on your own paper.
The Research Paper

There will come a time in most students' careers when they are assigned a research paper. Such an assignment often creates a great deal of unneeded anxiety in the student, which may result in procrastination and a feeling of confusion and inadequacy. This anxiety frequently stems from the fact that many students are unfamiliar and inexperienced with this genre of writing. Never fear—inexperience and unfamiliarity are situations you can change through practice! Writing a research paper is an essential aspect of academics, and should not be avoided on account of one's anxiety. In fact, the process of writing a research paper can be one of the more rewarding experiences one may encounter in academics. What is more, many students will continue to do research throughout their careers, which is one of the reasons this topic is so important.

Becoming an experienced researcher and writer in any field or discipline takes a great deal of practice. There are few individuals for whom this process comes naturally; remember, even the most seasoned academic veterans have had to learn how to write a research paper at some point in their career. Therefore, with diligence, organization, practice, a willingness to learn (and to make mistakes!), and, perhaps most important of all, patience, a student will find that she can achieve great things through her research and writing.

Source: Purdue Owl. “Writing a Research Paper.” The Purdue Owl. PurdueUniversity Writing Lab. 14 Apr. 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2009.

  1. What does the article say is the solution to anxietyabout writing a research paper?
  2. Not doing it
  3. Procrastination
  4. Practice
  5. Finding someone to whom it comes naturally
  6. Discipline
  1. The best definition of the word “discipline” in paragraph 2 is:
  2. a branch of instruction or learning: the disciplines of history and economics.
  3. a set or system of rules and regulations.
  4. punishment inflicted by way of correction and training
  5. activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer
  6. training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline
  1. Why does the article say that learning how to do research is important?
  2. Many students are unfamiliar and inexperienced with this genre of writing.
  3. It is an essential aspect of academics.
  4. Many students will do research throughout their careers.
  5. Both b and c
  6. All of the above
  1. What quality does the article argue is perhaps the most important in learning how to do research?
  2. Patience
  3. Achieving great things
  4. Organization
  5. Diligence
  6. Knowing how to do it
  1. Look at the source information below the article. What kind of source is this?
  2. Database
  3. Newspaper
  4. Website
  5. Print encyclopedia
  6. Book

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Read the following article from RiceUniversity’s Biosciences Department website and answer the questions that follow:

Writing Research Papers

A major goal of this course is the development of effective technical writing skills. To help you become an accomplished writer, you will prepare several research papers based upon the studies completed in lab. Our research papers are not typical "lab reports." In a teaching lab, a lab report might be nothing more than answers to a set of questions. Such an assignment hardly represents the kind of writing you might be doing in your eventual career.

Written and oral communications skills are probably the most universal qualities sought by graduate and professional schools as well as by employers. You alone are responsible for developing such skills to a high level.

Source: Caprete, David R. “Writing a Research Paper.” Experimental Biosciences. RiceUniversity. 20 Aug 2007. Web. 16 Nov. 2009.

  1. What is amajor goal of this writing course in Biotechnical Sciences?
  2. The development of technical writing skills
  3. To help students become accomplished fiction writers
  4. To help students become better at lab work
  5. To help students get better at typical lab reports
  6. To help students prepare several research papers
  1. What are the two skills that the article argues are probably the most universal qualities sought by graduate schools and employers?
  2. Responsibility and patience
  3. Technical writing skills
  4. Writing and reading
  5. Written and oral communications
  6. Universal qualities
  1. Look at the source information below the article. What institution is associated with this source?
  2. Biosciences
  3. A research one
  4. A mental institution
  5. RiceUniversity
  6. There isn’t one
  1. Who is the author of this source?
  2. RiceUniversity
  3. David R. Caprete
  4. There isn’t one.
  5. Experimental Biosciences
  6. Institution
  1. What date was this information accessed?
  2. August 20, 2006
  3. August 20, 2009
  4. November 16, 2009
  5. November 20, 2009
  6. None of the above

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Read the following section from the Purdue Owl website and answer the questions that follow.

MLA 2009 Formatting and Style Guide

General Format

MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages. (Continued on next page)

Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or accidental uncredited use of source material by other writers.

Source: Purdue OWL. "MLA Formatting and Style Guide." The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 10 May 2008. Web. 16 Nov. 2009.

  1. What does MLA Style do?
  2. Gives a writer source information
  3. Specifies guidelines for manuscripts and using English
  4. Provides writers with a system for referencing sources
  5. Both b and c
  6. All of the above
  1. What are the two ways MLA provides a system for referencing sources?
  2. Through parenthetical documentation and the works cited
  3. Through a system for referencing sources
  4. Through building credibility
  5. Using the English language in writing
  6. Using source documentation
  1. How do writers build credibility?
  2. By giving credit to their source material
  3. By using MLA formatting properly
  4. By using MLA format even if it isn’t correct
  5. Both a and b
  6. Both a and c
  1. What does the source argue is the most important thing about using MLA style?
  2. it is the uncredited use of source material
  3. it protects writers from accusations of plagiarism
  4. helps writers build their credibility
  5. using MLA style
  6. both a and b
  1. What does the source say is the definition of plagiarism?
  2. The accidental uncredited use of source material
  3. The purposeful uncredited use of source material
  4. Deliberately using source material without giving credit
  5. Accidentally using source material without giving credit
  6. All of the above

Read the following section from the Purdue Owl website and answer the questions that follow.

Basic In-Text Citation Rules

In MLA style, referring to the works of others in your text is done by using what is known as parenthetical citation. This method involves placing relevant source information in parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase.

General Guidelines

  • The source information required in a parenthetical citation depends (1.) upon the source medium (e.g. Print, Web, DVD) and (2.) upon the source’s entry on the Works Cited (bibliography) page.
  • Any source information that you provide in-text must correspond to the source information on the Works Cited page. More specifically, whatever signal word or phrase you provide to your readers in the text, must be the first thing that appears on the left-hand margin of the corresponding entry in the Works Cited List.
  1. When do you include parenthetical documentation in your writing?
  2. When you quote or paraphrase the work of others
  3. When you copy someone else’s words
  4. When you have relevant source information
  5. Every time you write anything
  6. When you create original ideas
  7. What two things determine what’s inside parenthetical documentation?
  8. The source medium
  9. The info on the Works Cited page
  10. The first thing that appears in the Works Cited entry for that source
  11. Both a and b
  12. All of the above
  13. What’s the closest definition to “medium” in paragraph #1?
  14. one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.
  15. a person through whom the spirits of the dead are alleged to be able to contact the living
  16. surrounding objects, conditions, or influences; environment
  17. the element that is the natural habitat of an organism.
  18. a middle state or condition; mean.

Read the following section from the Purdue Owl website and answer the questions that follow.

Author-Page Style (In-text Example):

Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).

Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).

Corresponding Works Cited Entry:

Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford U.P., 1967. Print.

  1. In what book did Wordsworth state that Romantic poetry was marked by a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”?
  2. The author of William Wordsworth
  3. Lyrical Ballads
  4. Romantic Poetry book
  5. Oxford UP
  6. It wasn’t a book; it was a website
  7. What page in the bookwas the quote by Wordsworth found on?
  8. 1967
  9. Page 263
  10. There isn’t a page number
  11. Wordsworth 263
  12. Print

TEST NOTE!!!!

There will also be sections on PLAGIARISM (read situations and determine whether or not it is plagiarism) and on your project itself.

To GET PREPARED FOR YOUR TEST TOMORROW, REVIEW YOUR ACADEMIC HONESTY CONTRACT AND YOUR NOTES ON PLAGIARISM. REVIEW YOUR PROJECT REQUIREMENTS AND RUBRIC AS WELL AS THE HOMEWORK FROM THE RESEARCH PAPER ARTICLE ON PAGE 868 IN YOUR BOOK.